Three Planes Acquired   (Sept 07)

The summer has been spent enjoying most of the models in the hanger, especially the Ultrastick Lite.  The P-51 is still not painted, it was so humid this summer from rains almost every day so the painting was just canceled for a while.  The last couple of days have seen a little pre-paint prep work on it.

A good buy came along on some planes from a modeler getting out of RC.  Three interested me and were purchased.  The first is another Cub, not needed in the hanger but it was super clean and has a Saito 90 twin, a fairly expensive motor.  I've never owned a twin cylinder model engine so jumped on the good price.  It has been flown once and sounds really great but I'm not sure the plane flies as well as my Goldberg, though it was a windy day and I'll reserve full judgement until experiencing a smooth outing.  The plane is cleaner than the old Goldberg.  A decision will be made about which to keep and the other sold.

The second plane, also very clean, is/was a quarter scale clipped wing Horizon Taylor Craft having a Zenoa 23 engine.  Unfortunately it was crashed on the 3rd flight by letting it get too slow and stalling when I failed to account for a downwind turn while negotiating the base  leg to final for a crosswind landing.  Almost all of my flying has been floaters that require power fully off during landings and the heavy clipped wing plane that needed power kept on surprised me.
 
The Talor Craft has extensive windows with lower windows providing for side ground visibility so it is structurally not strong in the mid section and it broke in half, with extensive up front damage but no damage aft of the cockpit and minor damage to the wing.  Ironically the cowl with some effort is repairable, though the wind screen and all but one side window are toast.  If the windows can be had, the plane is rebuildable otherwise it needs a new fuselage.  Fortunately, a picture was taken of it and my Grandson the day before the crash. 



The loss is tempered because the cost was less than the price of a new engine and it also came ready to fly with receiver, battery and all servos.  The plane was a very nice scale looking plane and flew well other than my inexperience with keeping some power on.

The third plane is called a New Bee and has a Saito .30.  Again a bargain with the cost about half that of a new motor and it also came ready to fly.